Speed increasing apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for stepping up the speed of the power takeoff on food preparing machines to obtain better performance from attachments for such machines, such as food slicers. A large diameter internally toothed gear is driven by the food machine power takeoff and in turn drives a small diameter gear mounted on a shaft which provides a high speed power takeoff for the attachment. A protuberance is formed on the body of the speed increaser adjacent the point of connection of an attachment thereto which prevents the connection of a low speed attachment, such as a grinder, which could cause damage to the food preparing machine if inadvertently used in combination with the speed increaser. Additionally, the small diameter gear is friction mounted on the output shaft to prevent damage to the machine if excessive countertorque is applied to the attachment.

limited States Patent Hartley et al.

[451 June 27, 1972 [54] SPEED INCREASING APPARATUS [72] Inventors: Richard S. Hartley; Franklin Douglas Houser, both of Troy, Ohio The Hobart Manufacturing Company, Troy, Ohio [22] Filed: May 25,1970

[21] Appl.N0.: 40,303

[73] Assignee:

2,046,784 7/1936 Krause 146/DlG. 8

Primary ExaminerWillie G. Abercrombie Att0rneyMarechal, Biebel, French & Bugg [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for stepping up the speed of the power takeoff on food preparing machines to obtain better performance from attachments for such machines, such as food slicers. A large diameter internally toothed gear is driven by the food machine power takeoff and in turn drives a small diameter gear mounted on a shaft which provides a high speed power takeoff for the attachment. A protuberance is formed on the body of the speed increaser adjacent the point of connection of an attachment thereto which prevents the connection of a low speed attachment, such as a grinder, which could cause damage to the food preparing machine if inadvertently used in combination with the speed increaser. Additionally, the small diameter gear is friction mounted on the output shaft to prevent damage to the machine if excessive countertorque is applied to the attachment.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUHN m2 3. 672.420

INVENTORS F. DOUGLASS'HQUSER RICHARD S. HARTLEY ATTORNE SPEED INCREASING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common practice to provide a power takeoff on food preparing machines so that attachments for slicing and so forth may be attached to the machine. See for example US. Pat. Nos. 1,791,161; 2,176,379; and 3,416,583. One difficulty that has been encountered, however, is that the shaft speed at the power takeoff may be appreciably lower than the optimum speed for certain uses such as slicers and the like. In a food slicer, for example, aside from the fact that the operation does not proceed as rapidly as would otherwise be possible, the blades do not cut through the material being sliced smoothly and the amount of pressure which must be applied to the material being sliced to push it through the slicer is higher than is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The output speed of the power takeoff on a food preparing machine is stepped up through the use of a device which attaches to the power takeoff, through appropriate gearing, and affords a high speed power takeoff for attachments such as slicers and the like. The device is kept compact through the use of an internally toothed ring gear which surrounds the gear for the high speed power takeoff and allows the centerlines of the two gears be placed in close proximity. A protuberance is formed on the body of the speed increaser which projects outwardly thereof and prevents the connection to the speed increaser of attachments which could cause damage to the food machine. Additionally, the smaller gear is friction mounted on the high speed power take-off shaft to prevent damage to the machine should an excessive amount of countertorque be applied to the attachments and the larger gear is mounted on the input shaft between a pair of bearing supports for the shaft to provide a more rugged unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a cross sectional view through the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing how attachments of a certain type are prevented from engaging the speed increasing apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As seen in FIG. 1, the present invention may comprise a housing having an input section 11 and an output section 12. An input hub 13 extends from the input section of the housing and an output hub 14 extends from the output section of the housing. The two portions 11 and 12 will usually be cast separately and bolted together by means of bolts 15, only one of which is shown. The hub 13 receives an input shaft which is mounted in bearings 21 and 22 engaging shaft 20 adjacent each end thereof and a ring member 23 is attached to the shaft intermediate the bearings 21 and 22. The ring member 23 has mounted thereon by means of bolts 24 or the like an internal gear 25 having teeth 26 formed on its inner periphery and the input shaft is provided with a fitting 27 adjacent one end thereof. An output shaft 30 is mounted in the housing 10 in spaced parallel relationship to the input shaft 20 and is provided with bearings 31 and 32. Adjacent one end thereof, the output shaft 30 has mounted thereon a gear 33, the teeth 34 of which are in meshing engagement with the teeth 26 of the gear 25. Adjacent its opposite end, the shaft 30 has a female fitting 35 formed therein which is complementary to the male fitting 27 formed on shaft 20. It will also be noted that the output hub 14 is provided with a bore 36 which tapers inwardly toward the shaft 30 and is complementary in size to the hub 13. Hub 14 is also provided with an aperture 37 which is complementary in shape to a pin member 38 mounted on the input side 11 ofthe casing 10.

It will also be seen that the gear 33 is mounted on the shaft 30 by means of a corrugated spring steel insert 39 which provides a tight frictional engagement between the gear 33 and the shaft 30. The tightness of the fit between the gear 33, shaft 30, and insert 39 may be calculated so that if excessive torque is applied to the device the gear 33 will slip relative to the shaft 30 rather than allowing one or more parts of the device to shear.

In operation, the hub 13 is inserted in the tapered opening of a food preparing machine, a portion of which is shown in phantom lines at 40, with the fitting 27 engaging a complementary socket in the shaft of the power takeoff and the thumb screw 41 is tightened to lock the unit in place. The pin 38 is received in a corresponding aperture of the food machine and serves to prevent rotation of the unit when power is applied to the shaft 20.

An attachment 50, a portion of which is shown in phantom lines and which may comprise a food slicer or other device which benefits from a speed increase, may then be attached to the present invention with its hub 51 projecting from a central boss 52 and received in the bore 36 of the hub 14, its fitting 53 received in the complementary fitting 35, and its pin 54 received in the aperture 37 to prevent rotation of the attachments. Thumb screw 55 may then be tightened to lock the attachment in place.

In addition to the insert 39, a further safeguard is provided against the application of excessive countertorque to the gear train of the food preparing machine 40. Thus, if an attachment which operates at relatively low speeds, such as a grinder, was used with the speed increaser and the insert 39 for some reason failed to release, the gear train of the food machine could be seriously damaged. In a typical grinder attachment, however, as shown in FIG. 3, the neck 60 of the grinder extends vertically upward in closely spaced relationship to the end of the grinder which normally engages the power takeoff of a food machine. Therefore, to prevent the attachment of a grinder to the speed increaser of the present invention, a protuberance 56 is formed on the housing projecting outwardly from the output section thereof in radially spaced relationship to the output shaft. Thus, if an operator inadvertently attempted to attach a grinder to the speed increaser of the present invention the neck 60 of the grinder would contact the protuberance 56 and prevent the male fitting 61 of the grinder from engaging the fitting 35 of the shaft 30. In a typical slicing machine, such as that shown in US. Pat. No. 1,548,042, the

length of the central boss, as at 52 in FIG. 1, is of sufficient length to space the frame or housing of the slicer from the hub 51 a distance greater than the outward projection of the prom berance 56. With a food slicer, therefore, the protuberance 56 does not interfere with the engagement of drive means of the output shaft and the input shaft of the food slicer.

Since the diameter of the gear 25 is appreciably greater than that of gear 33, it will readily be seen that a fairly low speed rotation applied to shaft 27 will be stepped up to a fairly high speed rotation at shaft 30 and it will be obvious that the gear ratios will be selected so that the resultant speed of the shaft 30 is the optimum speed for the attachment to be used. It will also be noted that a direct gear to gear drive is used, obviating the necessity of complicated gear trains, pulleys, sprockets and the like, and through the use of an internally toothed gear surrounding the gear 33 the centerlines of the input and output shafts can be placed in close proximity, resulting in an exceptionally compact unit.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. Speed increasing apparatus comprising:

a. a housing having an input section and an output section,

b. an input shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said input shaft projecting from said input section of said housing and adapted to engage the power takeoff ofa food machine,

c. an output shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said output shaft adapted to engage the drive shaft ofa food machine attachment,

d. gear means positioned in said housing interconnecting said input and output shafts for transmitting a rotatable force applied to said input shaft at a first speed to said output shaft at a speed greater than said first speed, and

e. a protuberance mounted on said housing and projecting outwardly of said output section thereof in radially spaced relation to said output shaft to prevent engagement of said output shaft with food machine attachments of a certain type.

2. The apparatus ofclaim lwherein'.

a. said input and output shafts extend in parallel relationship to each other.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said gear means includes:

a. a drive gear attached to one of said shafts, b. a driven gear attached to the other of said shafts and engaging said drive gear, and c. means for allowing one of said gears to rotate with respect to said output shaft when a predetermined torque is exerted on said output shaft by said one of said gears. 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein: a. said drive gear is an internal gear and surrounds said driven gear in engagement therewith. 5. The apparatus of claim 4 further wherein: a. bearing means engage said input shaft adjacent each end thereof, and b. said drive gear is attached to said input shaft intermediate the points of engagement of said bearing means with said input shaft. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising: an input hub extending from said input section of said housing and surrounding said input shaft,

b. a male fitting on said input shaft outwardly of said input hub,

. an output hub extending from said output section of said housing and surrounding said output shaft,

. said output hub having a bore formed therein complementary to said input hub, and

e. said output shaft having a female fitting formed in a distal portion thereof complementary to said male fitting on said input shaft.

. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising:

. a pin member extending from said input hub, and an aperture formed in said output hub with said aperture being complementary to said pin member.

Speed increasing apparatus comprising:

a housing having an input side and an output side,

. an input shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said shaft projecting from said input side of said housing,

c. an output shaft rotatably mounted in said housing in spaced parallel relationship to said input shaft with a portion of said output shaft projecting away from said input side of said housing,

. a drive gear attached to said input shaft,

e. a driven gear attached to said output shaft and engaging said drive gear,

f. said drive gear being of appreciably greater diameter than said driven gear,

g. a male fitting on said portion of said input shaft,

h. a complementary female fitting on said portion of said output shaft,

i. means for allowing said driven gear to rotate with respect to said output shaft when a predetermined torque is exerted on said output shaft by said driven gear, and

j. a protuberance mounted on said housing in radially spaced relationship to said output shaft and projecting outwardly of said hpusj ng 

1. Speed increasing apparatus comprising: a. a housing having an input section and an output section, b. an input shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said input shaft projecting from said input section of said housing and adapted to engage the power takeoff of a food machine, c. an output shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said output shaft adapted to engage the drive shaft of a food machine attachment, d. gear means positioned in said housing interconnecting said input and output shafts for transmitting a rotatable force applied to said input shaft at a first speed to said output shaft at a speed greater than said first speed, and e. a protuberance mounted on said housing and projecting outwardly of said output section thereof in radially spaced relation to said output shaft to prevent engagement of said output shaft with food machine attachments of a certain type.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: a. said input and output shafts extend in parallel relationship to each other.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said gear means includes: a. a drive gear attached to one of said shafts, b. a driven gear attached to the other of said shafts and engaging said drive gear, and c. means for allowing one of said gears to rotate with respect to said output shaft when a predetermined torque is exerted on said output shaft by said one of said gears.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein: a. said drive gear is an internal gear and surrounds said driven gear in engagement therewith.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 further wherein: a. bearing means engage said input shaft adjacent each end thereof, and b. said drive gear is attached to said input shaft intermediate the points of engagement of said bearing means with said input shaft.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising: a. an input hub extending from said input section of said housing and surrounding said input shaft, b. a male fitting on said input shaft outwardly of said input hub, c. an output hub extending from said output section of said housing and surrounding said output shaft, d. said output hub having a bore formed therein complementary to said input hub, and e. said output shaft having a female fitting formed in a distal portion thereof complementary to said male fitting on said input shaft.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising: a. a pin member extending from said input hub, and b. an aperture formed in said output hub with said aperture being complementary to said pin member.
 8. Speed increasing apparatus comprising: a. a housing having an input side and an output side, b. an input shaft rotatably mounted in said housing with a portion of said shaft projecting from said input side of said housing, c. an output shaft rotatably mounted in said housing in spaced parallel rElationship to said input shaft with a portion of said output shaft projecting away from said input side of said housing, d. a drive gear attached to said input shaft, e. a driven gear attached to said output shaft and engaging said drive gear, f. said drive gear being of appreciably greater diameter than said driven gear, g. a male fitting on said portion of said input shaft, h. a complementary female fitting on said portion of said output shaft, i. means for allowing said driven gear to rotate with respect to said output shaft when a predetermined torque is exerted on said output shaft by said driven gear, and j. a protuberance mounted on said housing in radially spaced relationship to said output shaft and projecting outwardly of said housing. 